According to the American Association of Suicidology and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), suicide is the 10th leading cause of death in the United States and the 15th leading cause of death globally (Drapeau & McIntosh, 2016; WHO, 2017). As of 2014, the suicide rate in the US was 13.0 per 100,000 (Curtin, Warner, & Hedegaard. 2016). 2015 data from the CDC list the US national rate of suicide at 13.8 per 100,000 (Drapeau & McIntosh, 2016). Men have the highest rate of suicide at 21.5 per 100,000 as compared to women with a rate of 6.3 per 100,000. The age group with the highest suicide rate is that of 45-54 year olds at 20.3 per 100,000 (see Figure 1).

Figure 1. United States suicide rates by age group for years 2005 – 2015. Adapted from “U.S.A Suicide: 2015 Official Final Data” by Drapeau, C. W., & McIntosh, J. L. (for the American Association of Suicidology). (2016). U.S.A. suicide 2015: Official final data. Washington, DC: American Association of Suicidology, dated December 23, 2016, downloaded from http://www.suicidology.org